


Foreboding

by CoreyWW



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Angst and Humor, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Foreshadowing, Friendship, Gen, Humor, Hurt/Comfort, Post-Episode: e041-049 The Eleventh Hour Parts 1-9, Sad, Short, Short One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-27
Updated: 2019-08-27
Packaged: 2020-09-27 20:55:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 547
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20414161
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CoreyWW/pseuds/CoreyWW
Summary: Post-The Eleventh Hour."The Chalice was destroyed. And the message tube June had given him was in his pocket. Magnus had seen it.And somehow he couldn’t ... think about it, it just turned to static. And he didn’t know why, couldn’t even consider why ...So he just stared up. And then he heard a voice.“Feeling blue? Well, let me just read to you from thisExtreme Teen Bible...”





	Foreboding

Magnus sat outside on the grass outside the domes, just staring upward at the stars.

The Chalice was destroyed. And the message tube June had given him was in his pocket. He had seen it.

And somehow he couldn’t ... _think _about it, it just turned to static. And he didn’t know why, couldn’t even _consider _why ...

So he just stared up. And then he heard a voice.

“Feeling blue? Well, let me just read to you from this _Extreme Teen Bible_ ...”

Magnus turned around to see Merle standing there, his wooden arm clutching his book. He grinned.

“I’m good, thanks,” he said, with a nervous chuckle.

Merle shrugged and sat down next to Magnus.

“That’s fine. It’s all the same crap anyway.”

Merle’s wooden arm contorted painfully, dropping the book on the ground. Merle winced.

_“I was joking, asshole!_” he shouted at his arm.

Magnus laughed a bit more at that. Merle looked back over at him.

“So! I guess we killed Cup Lady!” Merle said. “That was fun.”

“Yeah ...” Magnus said softly.

“Yeah,” Merle nodded. “She sucked anyway. Showing us Phandalin was kinda fucked.”

“... yeah ...” Magnus said, bringing his hand to his temple. He felt awful admitting it, but the image of the people of Phandalin being scorched would haunt him for a long time, if only he hadn’t had so much more haunting his thoughts at the moment. After he had that thought, he asked, “Hey um ... Merle?”

“Yeah?”

“What did the Cup offer you anyway?”

“Well, you know ...” Merle waffled his head back and forth. “She said I could change things so I got my arm back.”

Magnus whipped his head over, astonished.

“_That’s it_?!” Magnus shouted.

“Hey, don’t judge me, _you still got both your damn arms_!” Merle shouted, but smiled at the end of it. “But yeah, pretty crappy deal all things considered. Can change all of time and all I get offered is the change to get like ... I dunno, 99% less splinters than I do now? Psh ... hell with that.”

Magnus realized he was smiling despite himself.

“Yeah ...” Magnus’s smile faltered and he stared out at nothing. “Yeah, hell with that.”

Merle gave Magnus a gentle look.

“You uh ... you wanna talk about what the Cup offered you?”

Magnus looked at Merle for a second. He opened his mouth to say something, but he shifted and felt the message tube poke against his side ... and his mind drifted back to the impossible image on it, the one he found he couldn’t think about.

He stood up.

“I uh ... I think I’ll probably just take a walk for a bit.”

“Oh ... okay,” Merle said with a shrug. “Well ... I’ll see you later I guess.”

“Yeah ... _yeah _...”

Magnus walked slow at first and, once he was around a corner behind a dome, he rushed away.

* * *

As he left, Merle sighed.

He knew something was bothering the big guy but he wasn’t letting on what. He grunted in frustration. Maybe it was his fault for trying. Merle couldn’t remember a time when he’d ever been real good at heart-to-heart conversations anyway.

He fell back on the grass, looking up at the stars ... and right where he was staring, he could swear he saw one wink out.

Merle’s eyes grew wide.

“... _huh_!” he said.


End file.
